Immigrants rights advocates rallied against a bill advanced by an Iowa House subcommittee Feb. 20, 2025, requiring Iowa law enforcement agencies participate in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement programs. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Legislation requiring local law enforcement to enter agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on immigration law enforcement will not advance this session, Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison said Tuesday.
House Study Bill 187 would have required all Iowa law enforcement agencies enter written memorandums of agreement with ICE by Jan. 1, 2026. These agreements would have required Iowa law enforcement agencies to participate in immigration law enforcement efforts.
The bill included specific requirements on warrant service officer program and the jail enforcement model, methods of allowing state and local law enforcement to identify individuals based on their citizenship and serve administrative warrants to jailed individuals who could be removed from the country under federal immigration law.
The discussion comes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s administration’s actions to crack down on undocumented immigration through mass deportations and an expansion of ICE enforcement efforts.
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At the February subcommittee meeting on the bill, advocates for immigrant rights organizations and Latino groups said the measure would harm their communities in Iowa, potentially leading to an influx in racial profiling. Some speakers who had affiliations with Iowa law enforcement also criticized the legislation, saying the unfunded mandate would add additional financial burdens to law enforcement agencies, as well as making it more difficult for police to build trust with Latino and immigrant communities.
In the House Judiciary Committee meeting Tuesday, Holt said the bill was tabled after receiving feedback from law enforcement.
“In the end, as I consider all the comments I heard from law enforcement, concerns about manpower and the fact that this would federalize, in a way, our local law enforcement, the decision was that it was not a good idea, and we did not move forward,” Holt said.
Erica Johnson, the executive director of Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, an immigrant rights organization advocating against the legislation, celebrated the bill’s failure to advance this session.
“This bill was opposed by community members, citizens, and by Iowa law enforcement as an unsafe, wasteful, and harmful bill directly targeting our immigrant communities,” Johnson said in a statement. “… We look forward to seeing more bills and ideas brought forward by the Iowa legislature that align with the community values we as Iowans have and are common sense solutions to everyday problems we are facing.”
Though lawmakers are not expected to further consider this measure in 2025, other legislation related to immigration law is still up for discussion this session. Holt said to “stay tuned” for the subcommittee on House Study Bill 285, scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The new bill, introduced by Holt, states that law enforcement officers, including elected sheriffs, who intentionally fail to comply with state code on enforcement of immigration laws would be charged with a Class D felony, punishable by a maximum five years of confinement and fine of between $1,025 and $10,245.
This proposal comes following actions from Iowa law enforcement officials who have said they do not plan to comply with federal immigration efforts. In early February, Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx wrote in a social media post that he would not comply with immigration detainers requested by ICE outside of “valid” judicial warrants and court orders.
Holt told reporters the new legislation would ensure “that our law has teeth and that our law enforcement officers know that they better comply with the law.”
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